When No One Was Watching.

Chapter 7

I stare up at the ceiling. My head still reeling from what happened last night. I glance around the new room I'm in. It's much larger than Esme's was. The walls swirl with the pattern of the tree. Dust still lingers across the many built-in shelves stocked with books, a large wardrobe, and on top of the empty desk. A hand print runs across the top of a large piano, engraved in the soft gray coating. A baby's crib and rocking chair are tucked against one corner and the bed I lie upon is tucked against another. My leather saddle bag, saddle, and reins sitting on the chair.

I roll on my side staring out the window, ignoring the dull ache. The world is still as the first streaks of sun arrive. The sliver compass catches my eye from the table beside my bed. I reach out and run my fingers across the swirl in the dim morning light.

"She sent you here."

I let out a light sigh, still pondering over all that occurred. The compass had led me here, now I can see that he was right.

"It was my mothers. When my parents were married Adoni had blessed them and gave them this compass, so they would always be able to find their home. No matter how far away they may stray. My mother always had a good heart, and one day she gave it to a woman, one of her dearest friends. The woman was traveling far away into some sort of danger, my mother gave it to her so that if she ever needed refuge she could come here and be safe." Karl raised his hand up to mine, his face forlorn. "I was only nine but I will never forget her face. My mother was torn with grief for many months, and was quiet once a year on her birthday." I set my hand in his and allowed him to help me down off of Marisol.

"So your mother, knew my mother and they were friends?" I ask that being only one of ten thousand questions. "Where is your mother?"

"My mother and father died nearly ten years ago."

I slide off the warm covers, setting my feet on the cool floor and wrapping my arms around myself. I walk over admiring the extensive amount of books as my bones ache from the cool air.

My fingers run over their old and well-loved spines, gray coating my hand. This room seems to have been untouched for many years. When Karl gave it to me last night, I had asked then-

"Who does this room belong to?" I asked running my fingers across the top of the piano. "It is full of things yet untouched..."

"It was my Mother and Father's room." His large frame lingered just inside the door frame, his head just inches too tall to stand under it. "The only other bedroom in the house." I whirled back around to face him guilt building in my stomach.

"Well, surely I can not sleep in your parent's old chambers. How disrespectful of me indeed." He raised an eyebrow, straightening his spine as I continued on. "I could sleep on the couch, could I not?"

"The Princess of Ethelia, sleeping on a couch?" A chuckle bubbled out of his lips followed by a wolfish grin. "Now, let's be practical. You wouldn't last one night." A dimple deepened in his cheek and made me stumble momentarily.

"I will have you know," I began my face growing warm and I stepped closer folding my arms across my chest. "I have been stuck in that castle, forced to be a princess my entire life. Forced to be perfect. I want my life to be different and I have instructed you-"

"For one." He cut me off taking a menacing step forward. "You were sent here to be under MY protection. So instructing me to do anything," He stepped forward again, this time causing me to step back. "Isn't going to work here." The air trapped between us seemed to be lit on fire and something odd stirred in my belly. "Especially if you want to be thought of as anything other than an untouchable, selfish, Princess."